Sunday, October 23, 2011

Plainly Perfect Pound Cake with Brandied Cranberries

Another keeper from "The Cake Book" by Tish Boyle. This cake is a plain pound cake, I added in some dried cranberries boiled and soaked in brandy and orange juice.  A delightful cake, moist, tender, soft and wonderful with the cranberries. 





A rich buttery cake!


Tish Boyle suggested to serve this cake either on its own, or with ice cream or berries and softly whipped cream.


But this is really good on its own, with a cup of warm tea.

I'm sharing this with :
Sweets For A Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Bake with Bizzy at Bizzy B. Bakes
Sweet Tooth Friday at Alli n Son
Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage


And I'm bringing this to a Cookbook Party, hosted by Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations. Louise is celebrating her Blogoversary by throwing a Cookbook Party, and October being the National Cookbook Month! There's a whole list of food celebrations just for the month of October! For full details, hop over to Months of Edible Celebrations. I'm submitting this cake under the list "Cranberry Month"!

Plainly Perfect Pound Cake
(adapted from "The Cake Book" by Tish Boyle)
2 cups (7oz/200gm) sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks/8oz/227gm) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/4 cups (8.8oz/250gm) granulated sugar (I use 180gm)
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (omit this)
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (I use 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Dust the pan with flour.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine well, and set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat the mixture at medium-high speed until very light, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally (the mixture will look curdled at this point). Beat in the citrus zest and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the heavy cream in two additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. (My addition : Add in the Brandied Cranberries, mixing just until combined). Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  4. Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the cake pan on a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes.
  5. Unmold the cake and cool completely, right side up, before slicing.

Kitchen Flavours addition :
Brandied Cranberries
100gm dried cranberries
2 tablespoon brandy
1/4 cup orange juice
Mix the dried cranberries, brandy and orange juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. (I made this a day ahead, keep covered at room temperature, drain before use).





26 comments:

  1. Hmm, sound so good, i prefer this kind of plain butter cake too.Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Cake with cranberries look absolutely awesome and mouthwatering. Wish I was there to have a slice :) !

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  3. It looks so moist and I can just imagine how good it tastes!

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  4. My beloved friend
    Many thanks for so nice cake!!!
    Many greetings and kisses

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  5. that will be a nice little kick to this perfect pound cake, i would love that too!!

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  6. wow it really looks very moist - am gonna bookmark to try it soon :D

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  7. Could see the crumbs are very fine and moist,just the way I like it! The cranberries should give this cake tasty bits to chew on:)

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  8. How utterly delicious to feast my eyes on such goodness this early in the morning, Joyce. I think I too would prefer mine with a warm cup of tea:) The Brandied Cranberries add just the right touch.

    Thank you so much for sharing and for "bringing" such yumminess to the Cookbook Party!

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  9. El corte le tiene ideal.
    Un saludito

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  10. Love the idea of the brandied cranberries!

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  11. Super spongy cake,love the idea of adding cranberries..

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  12. Just by looking at it I can tell it's delicious! I love your idea of the brandy-soaked cranberries it this lovely, citrus-y sweet bread.

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  13. Deaer I love cranberries and thislook absolutely yumm! gloria

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  14. Love love cranberries! Makes me want to have a bite of your lovely pound cake :)

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  15. Great idea with the brandy/OJ soak. I bet that cake is 'rolls your eyes back' good. Looks amazing :)

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  16. I've been eating so much cake recently and I really should stop, but this looks irresistible!

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  17. Lovely cake .... I could imagine the butter fragrant filling the kitchen.

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  18. you are the winner of the most perfectly moist pound cake EVER> you can actually see how moist and delicious it is by the pictures. I have never seen a picture that speaks as well to a recipe as this one

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  19. Hi Joy,
    This pound cake is so moist I can see the moisture in the photo. This pound cake would just melt in your mouth! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a wonderful week and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  20. Hi Joy, I've been craving Pumpkin Pound Cake from Starbucks! Do you have a Pumpkin version of your pound cake recipe? Your cakes are always so moist and delicious looking so I would love the recipe if you are game!

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  21. This pound cake looks delicious, and I love the idea of the cranberries.
    Hope you have a great week ahead :-)

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  22. Those cranberries sound extra special! What a gorgeous pound cake - perfect for the holidays!

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  23. There is nothing plain about this cake. It looks special to me. Thanks for sharing it with us at Bake with Bizzy.

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  24. Love the idea of soaking dried fruit in brandy and orange juice. This cake is as good as it is. 100% agree that this recipe is a keeper.

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  25. Those cranberries would make this a great Christmas Pound Cake, YUM!

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  26. Luce esponjoso y bello,amo los arándanos es mi fruta preferida,abrazos hugs,hugs.

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